SAN JOSE — It can be a nightmare for any neighborhood: A house or apartment complex is ruining the block with blight and criminal activity. And the landlord ignores desperate pleas to do something about the troublesome tenants.

“Whole neighborhoods can become terrorized,” Jaime Angulo said. “We wanted to find a way where the community could help itself.”

And fight back.

Angulo is the program manager for the grass-roots Responsible Landlord Engagement Initiative, or RLEI, which helps San Jose neighbors band together and turn the tables on uncooperative property owners. The program, while small in scale, is drawing attention from other communities in the Bay Area and nationally as an innovative way to empower beaten-down residents by showing them how to lead the effort to improve their own neighborhoods.

For Gloria Zamudio, that meant finally holding a landlord accountable for a house in her East San Jose court that had plagued residents for six years with loud parties, drug dealing, speeding and loose dogs.

“We”d still be drowning in a deteriorating neighborhood without RLEI,” she said. “Now, we have our quality of life back. They helped us finally call our home, home.”

So far RLEI, acting as a third-party mediator, has resolved 10 nuisance properties and is working on about 40 other cases. Improvements at some houses and complexes have happened within a month of the group”s involvement. But other times, it has taken more than a year before landlords are persuaded to make real changes.

“We just want the same thing everyone wants: a safe neighborhood,” said Chris Tulin, the former president of the College Park Neighborhood Association, which worked with RLEI to improve a crime-ridden apartment complex near Bellarmine College Prep. “Before, we were perceived just as neighbors complaining about other neighbors. When we raised an issue, it was: ”Who are you?” This gave us a voice.”

RLEI is a collaborative effort that involves city agencies such as code enforcement, the housing department and San Jose police as well as community groups. But what makes the model unique, organizers say, is that neighborhood residents take ownership of the process.

Neighbors, who often feel powerless, are shown how to create leverage by organizing and building a case against a problem property. They are asked to sign a petition that goes to the landlord, showing both the neighborhood”s pent-up frustration and a strength in numbers.

“We”re not vigilantes or go seeking cases,” said Ken Kelly, an RLEI co-chair. “We”re just advisers. But it”s a real come-to-Jesus moment for landlords to enter a meeting and see that a lot of people are upset.”

If not, RLEI then guides neighbors on how to use the hammer: small-claims court. Everyone on the petition can sue for up to $10,000, and the threat of a hit to the wallet usually is enough to prod a truculent landlord into action.

On Gazania Drive in South San Jose, residents were exasperated with a house they long complained was the source of wild parties and illicit activity. Wayne Combs said he and other neighbors set up surveillance equipment to record the late-night traffic and documented more than 50 police calls over a three-year period.

“It was destroying the neighborhood,” he said. “We have a reduced police department, and we can ill-afford to have officers going to the same house, over and over. That”s what got Shawny Williams so upset.”

Williams, the SJPD”s liaison to RLEI until his recent promotion to deputy chief, arrived unannounced at Combs” home one day to listen about the problem.

“That neighborhood had a legitimate complaint because it was a house we had visited many times,” Williams said. “As anyone who has ever lived next to one of these houses knows, it can be very frustrating. But this is an effective solution that gives hope to neighbors and for me is the essence of community policing.”

Of the 11 neighbors who worked with RLEI, three would settle for $5,100 — the only RLEI case that has gone to mediation. More important to residents, Combs said, was the tenant finally was evicted this month.

“I know the neighbors were complaining,” said Rick Tran, the homeowner, who lives in Tracy. “But the tenant said they were lying. I live far away and don”t know. But the problem is solved now. I”ve kicked them out.”

Angulo is blunt when it comes to most landlords they encounter.

“Normally we”re dealing with an absentee property owner that just doesn”t care,” said Angulo, of the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley, which hosts the RLEI program. “They don”t look at themselves as part of the community. They”re just milking the cow.”

At a recent RLEI meeting at City Hall, representatives from council member offices, the SJPD, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and other community groups discussed their caseload. An East San Jose house they were investigating had been raided two days earlier for illegal video gambling machines and other contraband.

At another single-family house on the list — one of their success stories — 18 tons of trash had been removed after the landlords sold the property following RLEI”s intervention to help neighbors in the cul-de-sac.

The group even is assisting some downtown residents against 7-Eleven for not adequately monitoring its convenience stores.

But it also was apparent that the group is overwhelmed with requests from neighborhoods. It”s why organizers for RLEI, whose primary funding is from a Citi Community Development grant, plan to ask city leaders for money so it can take on more cases.

Meanwhile, community organizations from Chicago, Portland, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii and Montana have been in contact to learn more.

“We”ve also had discussions with groups in the Bay Area,” said Matt Huerta, the other co-chairman. “Communities, big and small, see the need to address problem properties. People need help.”

Zamudio, the president of the Arbuckle Neighborhood Association, said 40 East San Jose neighbors signed the petition about the house on their court. Today, the problem tenants are long gone, and she credits the apologetic landlord for keeping closer tabs on the property.

“Everything is peaceful again,” she said. “It”s beautiful. We can sit outside and watch the children play.”

What: Community-driven program designed to help neighborhoods deal with nuisance properties by forcing landlords to be more accountable. RLEI, which charges no fee, acts as a third-party mediator between concerned residents and landlords.Who: The steering committee includes Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley, United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County, San Jose Police Department and Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.Co-chairmen: Matt Huerta and Ken KellyCases: RLEI, launched in 2011 and operating mostly with a grant from Citi Community Development, has resolved 10 problem properties throughout San Jose and currently is working on about 40 other properties.For more information: www.nhsnow.org/rlei